Illumination devices and fixtures typically utilize incandescent or fluorescent light sources contained in housings which are often large and bulky. For example, lighting fixtures and signs often utilize a large amount of space. Illumination devices can include FR circuit boards made of a rigid substrate such as fiberglass, patterned with copper traces and mounting holes for components. These types of illumination devices are stiff and rigid and not suitable for mounting onto curved or odd-shaped surfaces. Flexible illumination devices exist and are typically made of rugged polymeric film patterned with copper traces, however, they can be expensive and difficult to manufacture for various reasons.
Illumination devices can include a lightguide used to facilitate distribution of light from a light source over an area much larger than that of the light source. Lightguides comprise optically transmissive materials and may have different forms such as slab, wedge, and pseudo-wedge forms. Most lightguides are designed to accept light at an edge surface and allow this light to propagate by total internal reflection between a back surface and an output surface, toward an opposing edge surface from which the light enters. Light is emitted uniformly from the output surface using extracting features that are positioned in various types of patterns on the output surface.